Ancient Greek mythology with twist of terrorism

Reviewed By Michael Shmith

Gluck's operatic reforms were revolutionary for their time, but also for all time. This good production of Iphigenie en Tauride brings all the drama and urgency of Gluck's scoring alive with telling vividness.

Praise indeed for conductor Pat Miller who at Monday's performance, a few fluffs aside, secured power and lyricism from his small orchestra.

Praise, too, for director Nate Gilkes, who, while respecting ancient Greek mythology, brings a contemporary terrorist twist that provides extra tension and relevance to this tale of Iphigenie and her long-lost brother, Orestes, whom she is compelled to put to death but ultimately saves.

It is a busy show, though, with various distracting swishing and thumping entrances and exits that could perhaps have been more fluidly handled.

Rob Sowinski's clever set of black plastic and dark decking places the orchestra in a sort of conversation pit, around which the action takes place - a reflection, maybe, of the opera's insular location. Good cross-age costumes, too, by Owen Phillips and Charlotte Lane. But, I must say, all that plastic on walls and, at one stage, cloaks, can only go so far before things turn into a tribute to the bin-liner.

Caroline Vercoe's passionate and strongly vocal Iphigenie took the vocal honours. It's a cruel role, but she handled it admirably. Michael Lampard and Paul Biencourt were forceful as Orestes and his best friend, Pylades and Bruce Raggatt provided the right hiss-the-villain mood for the Scythian king, Thoas. The small chorus, at times crammed into the space, did well.

It is a brave move for a small company to stage such a challenging work. Now it might be tempted to do Gluck's other Iphigenie, en Aulide.